1 Corinthians

In today's reading, we found a few more instances of believers who had not received the Spirit. Paul clearly taught that one could not be a Christian unless they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which makes these references to believers receiving the Spirit at a later time perplexing. Were Apollos and the 12 brothers (another translation of "believers") true Christians? If they were believers, then this would be another example of God wanting to display the Spirit in a pronounced, unique way to validate the Spirit's ministry to the infant church. If not, that would explain the lack of the Spirit. It is possible that during this transitional period between Judaism and Christianity, there was some confusion about salvation. True seekers could earnestly believe what they had heard about Jesus without really understanding the full gospel. People were so eagerly sharing the news of Jesus' resurrection that they may have inadvertently passed on a sincere but imperfect form of Christianity due to lack of knowledge. Those who had received John's baptism would have understood it to be an act of repentance from sin, not an invitation to a personal relationship.

My favorite explanation of the purpose of the Holy Spirit was penned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11. He likened the Spirit to the ability to know God's thoughts, which is very, very personal and intimate. NO ONE knows our thoughts but ourselves. We can share our ideas and feelings with others but that will never be the equivalent of being inside our heads and reading our thoughts! But the Holy Spirit is that equivalent! That's how personal the relationship can be! We can know the mind of God when filled with the Spirit, but of course, only to the degree that we tap into it.

Tomorrow's reading: 1 Cor. 4:1-7:40